them, whilst his young friend endeavoured to make a geological map of the county. In the vacation Lyell and two friends went to Staffa, and his description of the grand columns of the old volcanic stone shows how he enjoyed and comprehended the scene. In 1818 the family of the Lyells made a tour in France, Switzerland, and Italy, and the notes, letters, and diaries of the eldest son have been preserved, and they show how gradually, yet surely, he was educating himself for that path which he, subsequently, never deserted. France was not very lively, but he noticed the country more than the people, and observed the country changed with the soil. He spent his first Sunday at Paris, and went to the Jardin des Plantes the first thing on Monday morning, but was disappointed by not hearing Cuvier lecture. In the evening he went to see the great fountains at Versailles, where Wellington was dining with some French marshals. Day after day the wonderful sights of Paris were visited; but Lyell, whenever he had the opportunity, slipped off to the Jardin des Plantes. He was much struck with the collection of comparative anatomy, which he said might tempt anyone who had the opportunity of staying in Paris, to take up ardently the study of anatomy. He studied Cuvier’s work on fossil remains, and on the geology of the country round Paris. One of his visits was to Cuvier’s lecture room, which he described as filled with fossil remains, among which are those glorious relics of a former world. Leaving Paris, Lyell travelled by post, and noticed the geology and rocks of the monotonous country to the Jura Mountains. He was mightily puzzled about the rocks of the Jura, and enjoyed that magnificent scene of the Alps from the top of the hills over which he was travelling. He wrote, “In descending the Jura from Lavatey to Gex, we had a most magnificent view of a vast extent of country. Below us the Lake of Geneva and the Canton de Vaud; before us the Savoy Alps towering up to the clouds, and in spite of their great distance and the height on which we stood, extended in a long line before us like an army of giants, Mont Blanc rising high above all in the middle as their chief. We saw the Dent du Midi to our left, shooting up his two remarkable peaks, with many more of extraordinary and picturesque forms.” On visiting the Valley of Chamouni, we find Lyell naming the rocks of the different well known scenes, according to the accepted terms of the mineralogists of the day, and this is a satisfactory proof that he had been studying geology very effectually, by himself, before he left England. He saw his first glacier, of any importance, and was immensely struck with the changes it was producing in the valley.